Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100061269 | Differentiated services for unicast and multicast frames in layer 2 topologies - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving information on layer 2 topologies at a network device in a core network, mapping one or more Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) to the layer 2 topologies to provide differentiated services in said layer 2 topologies, defining multiple paths for each of the layer 2 topologies, and forwarding a packet received at the network device on one of the multiple paths. An apparatus for providing differentiated services in layer 2 topologies is also disclosed. | 03-11-2010 |
20100111080 | Graceful Network Merge by Performing a Graceful Transition of Conflicting Routing Identifiers - Methods and apparatus for merging two or more networks are disclosed. In one embodiment, a first switch of a first network receives a second set of information including routing identifiers associated with a second network, wherein the first switch of the first network is connected to a second switch of the second network. The first switch of the first network transmits a first set of information including routing identifiers associated with the first network. The first switch determines whether a conflict exists between the second set of information and the first set of information. A conflicting one of the routing identifiers associated with the first or second network may be transitioned to a non-conflicting routing identifier according to the determination of whether a conflict exists between the first set of information and the second set of information, thereby enabling data to flow between the first network and the second network via a link between the first switch and the second switch. | 05-06-2010 |
20100165994 | METHOD OF SELECTIVELY AND SEAMLESSLY SEGREGATING SAN TRAFFIC IN I/O CONSOLIDATED NETWORKS - Methods and apparatus for segregating traffic are disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment, a traffic splitter identifies a set of links coupled to the traffic splitter, where the set of links includes two or more uplinks, wherein each of the two or more uplinks are implemented in a common physical media. The two or more uplinks include a LAN uplink coupled to a LAN and a SAN uplink coupled to a SAN. The traffic splitter prevents SAN traffic from reaching the LAN via the LAN uplink. In addition, the traffic splitter prevents LAN traffic from reaching the SAN via the SAN uplink. | 07-01-2010 |
20100290472 | ACHIEVING ABOUT AN EQUAL NUMBER OF ACTIVE LINKS ACROSS CHASSIS IN A VIRTUAL PORT-CHANNEL ENVIRONMENT - Two or more network devices can automatically coordinate to aggregate ports into virtual port channels. Ports of the port channel can be automatically assigned priorities to achieve about an equal distribution of active links across the two or more network devices. | 11-18-2010 |
20110116509 | METHOD FOR THE PROVISION OF GATEWAY ANYCAST VIRTUAL MAC REACHABILITY IN EXTENDED SUBNETS - A method and apparatus is disclosed for providing gateway anycast virtual MAC reachability in extended subnets. When an extended L2 subnet spans more than one geographical location, it is desirable that the gateway MAC addresses learned in each location be the same across all IP hosts. Accordingly, the gateway MAC address may be preserved (i.e., programmed) in more than one port on a bridge, such as both a local port and a LAN extension port. The bridge may forward traffic having the anycast MAC address to the closest instance of the MAC address, rather than replicating the traffic to the multiple ports on which the anycast MAC address is programmed. If the gateway reachable on the local port goes down, the frame may be forwarded to the local gateway in the second layer 2 subnet over the LAN extension port. | 05-19-2011 |
20110243136 | Forwarding multi-destination packets in a network with virtual port channels - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a multi-destination packet at a switch in communication with a plurality of servers through a network device, identifying a port receiving the multi-destination packet at the switch or a forwarding topology for the multi-destination packet, selecting a bit value based on the identified port or forwarding topology, inserting the bit value into a field in a virtual network tag in the multi-destination packet, and forwarding the multi-destination packet with the virtual network tag to the network device. The network device is configured to forward the multi-destination packet to one or more of the servers based on the bit value in the multi-destination packet. An apparatus for forwarding multi-destination packets is also disclosed. | 10-06-2011 |
20110267947 | Load Balancing Over DCE Multipath ECMP Links for HPC and FCoE - Methods and apparatus for generating different hash values in an effort to achieve better load balancing among various paths in a data center environment, such as Data Center Ethernet (DCE) with Layer 2 Multipathing (L2MP), supporting equal-cost multipath (ECMP) routing are provided. In this manner, the data center environment may attain better network utilization for high-performance computing (HPC), storage area network (SAN), and/or local area network (LAN) traffic. | 11-03-2011 |
20110273990 | Per-graph link cost assignment in layer 2 multipath networks - In one embodiment, a method includes assigning at a switch in a layer 2 multipath network, costs to a link in the network, each of the link costs associated with a different graph for forwarding traffic in the network, transmitting the link costs to other switches in the layer | 11-10-2011 |
20110310729 | Maintaining balance of active links across network devices in a double-sided virtual port-channel environment - In one embodiment, a method includes configuring a first network device for operation in a first logical group with a second network device, receiving information from other network devices configured for operation in a second logical group, the information uniquely identifying each of the other network devices within the second logical group, and assigning a priority to each link connecting the first network device to the second logical group network devices. A portion of the links are selected as active links based on the link priorities and the link priorities are assigned such that a balance of active links is maintained across the second logical group network devices. An apparatus for maintaining a balance of active links across the network devices is also disclosed. | 12-22-2011 |
20120027017 | MULTI-DESTINATION FORWARDING IN NETWORK CLOUDS WHICH INCLUDE EMULATED SWITCHES - Techniques are described which facilitate multi-destination forwarding in a Layer 2 Multipath (L2MP) network which includes an emulated switch. The emulated switch may correspond to two or more underlying peer link switches in the L2MP network, in which each of the peer link switches is linked to a Classical Ethernet (CE) switch over a virtual port channel (vPC). Traffic received by one of the peer link switches over the vPC is automatically forwarded to the other peer link switch (or switches). Multi-destination frames originating from the L2MP network addressed to hosts within the CE network are sent over only one of the peer link switches. | 02-02-2012 |
20120106339 | Probing Specific Customer Flow in Layer-2 Multipath Networks - Techniques are provided to enable a switch in a layer-2 multipath network to determine connectivity of a path to a destination switch. At a source switch, user flow parameters are determined for user flow packets to be transported in the layer-2 multipath network to a destination switch. The sourced switch determines a number of hops from it to the destination switch based on the user flow parameters. Timestamping is activated for time-to-live expiry packets received at the source switch and for time-to-live expiry packets received at the destination switch. One or more probe packets having user flow parameters matching the user flow parameters of user flow packets are generated so that the probe packets use the same path taken by the user flow packets between the source switch and the destination switch. In addition, a time-to-live value corresponding to the number of hops from the source switch to the destination switch is included in a hop count field of the one or more probe packets. The time-to-live value distinguishes the one or more probe packets from user flow packets. The one or more probe packets are sent in the layer-2 multipath network from the source switch to the destination switch. Connectivity between the source switch and the destination switch is determined based on the one or more probe packets. | 05-03-2012 |
20120131216 | Active-Active Multi-Homing Support for Overlay Transport Protocol - Techniques are provided for active-active multi-homing support over an overlay transport virtualization protocol for an edge switch at a data center site. At an edge switch that is configured to operate in an active-active multi-homing mode with at least one other edge switch in an edge switch cluster at a first data center site that comprises one or more endpoint devices, information is stored indicating a media access control (MAC) address of at least one endpoint device at the first site. The edge switch in the edge switch cluster at the first site sends via an overlay transport virtualization protocol a Layer-3 message that is configured to advertise the MAC address of the at least one endpoint at the first site to enable the at least one edge switch at the second site to perform multipath routing to the endpoint device at the first site based on each of the edge switches in the edge switch cluster at the first site. | 05-24-2012 |
20120189014 | GRACEFUL NETWORK MERGE BY PERFORMING A GRACEFUL TRANSITION OF CONFLICTING ROUTING IDENTIFIERS - A first switch of a first network may receive a second set of information including routing identifiers associated with a second network, wherein the first switch of the first network is connected to a second switch of the second network. The first switch of the first network may transmit a first set of information 54 including routing identifiers associated with the first network. The first switch may determine whether a conflict exists between the second set of information and the first set of information. A conflicting one of the routing identifiers associated with the first or second network may be transitioned to a non-conflicting routing identifier according to the determination of whether a conflict exists between the first set of information and the second set of information. | 07-26-2012 |
20120224510 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING TOPOLOGY CHANGES IN A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT - A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes receiving a spanning tree protocol topology change notification (STP TCN) in a network; removing topology data for a first plurality of gateways associated with a first network segment ID that is shared by a particular gateway that communicated the STP TCN; and communicating an edge TCN to a second plurality of gateways associated with a second network segment ID and for which topology data has not been removed based on the STP TCN. | 09-06-2012 |
20120275347 | DIFFERENTIATED SERVICES FOR UNICAST AND MULTICAST FRAMES IN LAYER 2 TOPOLOGIES - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving information on layer 2 topologies at a network device in a core network, mapping one or more Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) to the layer 2 topologies to provide differentiated services in said layer 2 topologies, defining multiple paths for each of the layer 2 topologies, and forwarding a packet received at the network device on one of the multiple paths. An apparatus and logic for providing differentiated services in layer 2 topologies is also disclosed. | 11-01-2012 |
20130044757 | Proxy FHRP for Anycast Routing Service - Embodiments described herein achieve proxy FHRP for anycast routing services through the coordination of L2MP edge switches to allow load balancing for the use of routing services. Such embodiments may avoid duplicity and coordinate control planes between the edge switches to present a proxy interface to the rest of the network for the routing services. As such, multipathing and load-balancing for efficient use of crucial services may be provided for client nodes inside the network. | 02-21-2013 |
20130155846 | Active Standby Virtual Port-Channels - An active-standby virtual port channel mechanism may be provided, where at any point only one virtual port channel link would be active. Upon failover of the active, a fast failover mechanism is employed to move active traffic to a standby port channel link. | 06-20-2013 |
20130182604 | Connecting Layer-2 Domains Over Layer-3 Networks - In one embodiment, a method includes building an address resolution cache for a layer-3 router in a first layer-2 datacenter, where the address resolution cache includes a plurality of entries, each of the entries containing a host network address, a host hardware address, and a switch identifier for a switch serving a host, intercepting an address resolution flood within the first layer-2 datacenter that seeks address resolution for a host in a second layer-2 datacenter, and generating a response to the address resolution flood that indicates a source in the second layer-2 datacenter, where data indicating the source in the second layer-2 datacenter is accessed from the address resolution cache. | 07-18-2013 |
20130329727 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LAYER-2 MULTICAST MULTIPATHING - An example method is provided and includes a multicast data message from a data source, the message in a first virtual local area network and being associated with a multicast group. The method also includes calculating a hash value based on the virtual local area network, the data source, and the multicast group, determining a port for a designated router in a Layer-2 network based on the hash value, and switching the multicast data message to the port that was determined. | 12-12-2013 |
20140023074 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LAYER-2 NETWORK ROUTING - An example method is provided and includes receiving a data message from a first virtual local area network; determining at an edge switch-router of a Layer-2 network whether the message should be routed; and routing the message in the Layer-2 network at the edge switch-router if the message should be routed. The method also includes switching the message at the edge switch-router if the message should not be routed. | 01-23-2014 |
20140043987 | PASSIVE NETWORK LATENCY MONITORING - A method measures a resident delay for each port in a node in a network and a peer delay between each pair of neighbor nodes in the network. From these resident delays and peer delays, latency between each pair of neighbor nodes in the network is determined. The method includes weighting a route for a data packet going through the nodes in the network using the determined latencies. Each node includes a switch having switchable connections and is configured by a controller to send probe packets from an output port to a port in a neighbor node. The packet may include a time stamp and an identifier. | 02-13-2014 |
20140126376 | Advertising Reachability In Proxy FHRP for Anycast Routing Service - Embodiments described herein achieve proxy FHRP for anycast routing services through the coordination of L2MP edge switches to allow load balancing for the use of routing services. Such embodiments may avoid duplicity and coordinate control planes between the edge switches to present a proxy interface to the rest of the network for the routing services. As such, multipathing and load-balancing for efficient use of crucial services may be provided for client nodes inside the network. | 05-08-2014 |
20140153437 | Determining Multicast Root Nodes in a Telecommunications Network - In an embodiment, a method comprises: detecting a change in a multiple-switch configuration in a data communications network comprising a plurality of packet data switches configured as roots of multicast trees. In response to detecting that the multiple-switch configuration has changed, a first value, a second value and a third value representing limits on a number of multicast trees supported in the network and prioritization of the switches are retrieved. The method further comprises determining a type of the multiple-switch configuration change. In response to determining that the type indicates that a first switch was added to the multiple-switch configuration, using at least the first, second and third values, it is determined whether to configure the first switch as a first root in the multiple-switch configuration. The method is performed by one or more computing devices. | 06-05-2014 |
20140355563 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EFFICIENT L3 MOBILITY IN A WIRED/WIRELESS NETWORK - A system and method for efficiently handling mobility events includes detecting a mobility event associated with a movement of a mobile unit from a first subnet to a second subnet, forming one or more first flow control messages for updating routing information associated with the mobility event, transmitting the one or more first flow control messages to a core router, forming one or more second flow control messages for disabling layer 2 learning, transmitting the one or more second flow control messages to one or more network switching devices in the first subnet, forming one or more third flow control messages including layer 2 switching instructions for directing network traffic to the mobile unit in the second subnet, and transmitting the one or more third flow control messages. | 12-04-2014 |
20140372582 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING VLAN-INDEPENDENT GATEWAYS IN A NETWORK VIRTUALIZATION OVERLAY IMPLEMENTATION - An information handling system is provided. The information handling system includes a first hypervisor running on a first server and a second hypervisor running on a second server. The first hypervisor manages a first virtual switch and has an overlay forwarding table in memory supporting at least one virtual machine, while the second hypervisor manages a second virtual switch and also has the overlay forwarding table in memory and supports at least one other VM. The information handling system further includes a plurality of gateway devices coupled to the hypervisors. The gateway devices share a floating address and are configured to export a host route, associated with the address, into a corresponding entry in an underlay routing table to redirect network traffic from a first gateway device to a second gateway device. | 12-18-2014 |